Winter's Woman
by LetYourHeartFly
Summary: A loud cracking sound and a high pitched scream. An agonizing pain and then blissful nothingness. Bucky just wanted the memories to stop until once resurfaced that he knew he couldn't run from, one he never wanted to forget in the first place. BUCKY/OC
1. Winters Woman

A loud cracking sound and a high pitched scream. An agonizing pain and then blissful nothingness.

Muffled voices and then silence. The creak of a floorboard outside his bedroom door. He had that squeak memorized.

Keeping his breathing even and his eyes closed, Bucky spent a few anxious seconds trying to discern dream from reality. Again the muffled voices and a squeak as if someone was shifting their weight outside his door. That's right, his door. A silent sigh escaped the infamous assassin. He was in his bed in the apartment he shared with Steve, better known as Captain America and his little soldier friend.

He was no longer in a lab. The dark grey of his walls served as another reminder. Standing in sharp contrast to the sterile white walls that had slowly faded to yellow of his once prison.

The voices again. One concerned, the other also concerned but masking it much better.

"Nightmare again," the first one whispered. His voice was higher than the second and had an accent that would have sounded normal over seventy years ago but now sounded out of place.

"Yeah. Maybe Tony knows someone who can help, he's got connections." The second voice, a deep baritone, managed to sound nonchalant at the idea of Bucky's screams waking him up. His voice annoyed the dark-haired man.

Blinking slowly to let his eyes adjust, Bucky sat up, rotated, smoothly lowered his feet to the floor and silently stalked to the door. He had noticed that all his movements made the barest sound. Not even the creaking of a joint was heard as he gripped the door handle and swung it open to stare at the two massive bodies huddled around his door like it was a source of heat.

The three stared at each other for what seemed like centuries before Sam cleared his throat and turned to leave, feeling awkward at having been caught worrying about the man he pretended to hate.

"I'm sorry," Bucky said quietly. His voice still carried a hint of scratchiness, from disuse all those years.

Halting then throwing a neutral look over his shoulder Sam shrugged and nodded before continuing down the hallway.

Steve and Bucky watched him go. The stillness between them lasted until Sam had turned the corner and they both heard the shutting of his bedroom door. Steve rotated his body to face his long time best friend.

"Wanna talk about it?" The drawl that was barely noticeable most of the time powered through on this sentence. Bucky knew what that meant. Steve was being genuine and at the same time slyly trying to bring out the old Bucky. The Bucky he didn't even know existed anymore.

Bucky focused his eyes on the floor, giving the pretense of considering the absurd question, before shaking his head. Steve would never understand and there were things Bucky didn't want Steve to know about his past. The things he had done didn't deserve someone trying to justify them.

There was one thing that was bothering him however. "I keep hearing a woman's scream. Right before I wake up. It sounds so familiar but," here he paused with a frown marring his face, "I can't place it." A shake of his head accompanied the end of this sentence. Something wasn't right but he couldn't find the feeling on his own.

Steve's eyes widened before he schooled his face to be once again impassive. Had Bucky finally started to open up? Steve didn't count his lucky stars just yet. Maybe all he needed was a push in the right direction, something Steve was hoping he could give him. Steve considered his options. What reply could spur the memories Bucky had locked away?

"Do you remember any women in your past? Maybe it's a memory." Steve held his breath. It was an interesting question, Bucky mused. Did he even remember his mother? Not really. Flashes that come and go but no solid memories of his childhood had survived his torture at the hands of HYDRA.

Steve's questioned went unanswered for minutes. He began to believe the broad figure to his right might not respond at all when suddenly Bucky's shaggy head shot up and his eyes focused on Steve's face. A look of dawning horror and pain covering his dark features as his hands reached up to grasp greasy locks between his fingers. Bucky's lips twitched as if he was trying to say something but the painful visage was stuck on his face.

Steve, his concern growing, laid a hand on Bucky's shoulder. The flinch that associated this movement didn't go unnoticed by the Captain but it was a hell of a lot better than getting body tossed into the wall, which had happened the first few times he had touched Bucky. Bucky's shoulder, under the hand, was ridged and taunt with energy.

"Buck?" Steve's voice seemed to float into Bucky's head like it was a thousand miles away but the solid iron of Steve's hand landing on his shoulder snapped him back to focus. He looked up again, his eyes slightly more moist than normal, and replied, "Serafina." The name came out like a gasp, and with it the will in Bucky's body disappeared.

Bucky's large frame no longer had the power to hold itself and he curled in upon himself, slamming his back against the wall behind him and sliding down until his arms, and head rested on his knees.

Steve quickly joined him, careful not to allow his body to make contact with Bucky's side. The former assassin still wasn't good with physical contact. "Who is Serafina?"

His head still cushioned by his arms and resting his forehead on his knees, Bucky replied, "She was the only other member of my training class to survive. We started with four and only we survived the testing. I only remember bits and pieces but I remember that she was better than me. Faster. Smarter. The reason I feel pain when I wake up right after her scream is because that was the one time I bested her. I broke her arm in three places and she kicked me in the face. The next day her arm was almost fully healed, she had advanced healing, and I never got close to achieving that again."

"You just remember a lot Buck, the memories must be coming back," Steve's lowered voice couldn't hide his excitement.

Bucky's face twisted. How was he supposed to tell Steve that he could only remember things starting with HYDRA. His far past, the memories Steve wanted, were gone.

A silent sigh escaped his lips. Sitting next to Steve, their shoulders almost touching, was setting his instincts on edge but he needed to give Steve something for what he was about to ask. Allowing his head to come up and lean back onto the wall Bucky dipped his shoulder towards America's Golden Boy and forced his arm to graze Steve's. Pretending not to notice the shock on the other man's face, Bucky sighed audibly this time.

Digging his fingers through his shoulder length hair again, Bucky finally turned his head towards his once best friend and met Steve's eyes. "Please help me find her." His voice cracked and he quickly hid his head again in shame. This weakness was new to him. Or maybe new to this reborn him.

* * *

Standing in front of 15 foot high windows and staring out into the expanse of downtown New York would never get old, Bucky mused. The city of his birth was just as overpopulated and dirty as he remember. But it was home. If he could feel the memory associated with home, Bucky knew he would feel it for this place. Well maybe not the one hundred and ten story AVENGERS tower he was currently in but none the less the Big Apple felt normal.

Staring at his reflection in the pristine window, Bucky's eyes traveled behind him to where his self-named best friend was currently arguing with the owner of this expensive building, billionaire Tony Stark, also known by his alter-ego Iron Man. The two looked to be in heated conversation, arms flying everywhere, faces masks of concentration, and standing within two feet of each other. They obviously didn't want him to hear what they were saying, if the closeness and awkward side glances they kept throwing at him were anything to go by. He scoffed inwardly. They thought he wouldn't notice their desperate attempts at hiding their conversation from him.

With a small shake of his head, Bucky allowed his hair to cover a majority of his face as he bent his head and closed his eyes. He could always hear better when he closed his eyes. Probably something to do with activating his other senses. As he focused, the conversation being held 10 yards away filtered in his ears.

"Why would I help him?" Tony Stark's snide voice cut off Steve's sentence.

"You should have seen him last night. He remember Tony, he remembered. And I'm going to do everything I can to help him find the person he remembered. I just need a little help."

"Fine. What if this person doesn't exist? What if it's a figment of his messed up brain Cap? Or what if this person is dead? What then? Should the Avengers expend resources to find someone we don't even know exists or might not be alive?" Tony's voice had softened but the steel undertone was clear. Something drastic was going to have to happen to get his billions on board and the help of the superhero cliché.

Turning around to face the table that Steve, Falcon, Stark, Banner, and Black Widow sat at, Bucky forced his face to soften. This would need emotion and as the Winter Soldier he knew how to turn off his emotions. Turning them back on was proving a lot harder.

"She's like me." His voice cut through the room, quiet as it was, and silenced the current argument as all turned to face him. Taking a deep breath Bucky continued, "She was taken, tortured, forced to preform acts which haunt her waking and sleeping moments," another deep breath, "she doesn't understand what she is. What she was made to be. But she understands pain, and hatred. She understands misery, even if she has no word for it. I know she's alive, and I'm asking for your help in finding her. But I will do it alone if need be."

The deafening silence that followed his speech was all encompassing. It was almost as if the mute button had been switched on and not even the air dared move.

Steve stood. "You can't go alone Buck. You know the risk of them retaking you is too high." His voice was soft but Buck's spine went ridged and his face morphed into the mask of the Winter Soldier. When he spoke his voice came out cold enough to cause frostbite.

"I will do this alone if you won't help me. You won't be able to stop me." Bucky glared until Steve reluctantly sat back down.

"See! He's dangerous. He just threatened you and now you want us to help him?" Tony's high voice snapped, his eyes sending judgement towards Steve. His words caused another argument and Bucky stood at the head of the table, forgotten, as some of the Avengers tried to force their voices and thoughts over the others. The only two that were silent were Natasha Romanov, with her sharp spy eyes assessing every breath the former HYDRA weapon took and Bruce Banner, who's outward calm showed nothing of the beast within.

Focusing back on the table to see conversation had once again cease, Bucky looked towards the source of the silence. Natasha Romanov was standing, her arms propped on the table before her and her fierce gaze directed at none other than him. She was silent for a few more moments before she spoke, "I'm in." Her smooth voice was as sweet as honey.

"WHAT?!" Stark boomed, "You can't decide that on your own! We are a team, we fight together as a team."

With a small beguiling smile, the Widow replied, "Then I suggest you follow my lead Stark." With a tilt of her head, she focused her eyes once again on Bucky and nodded ever so slightly, "I know what it is like to be twisted and shaped whether that molding breaks and remakes you. No one deserves that life." Her eyes drifted lifeless for less than a moment before snapping to Iron Man's face and smirking slightly before exiting the room. She had said her piece.

Steve took this as a sign to throw his support in once again and placed a hand on Bucky's shoulder. Bucky tried not to flinch. "You know where I stand Tony. We're seeing this through." Behind him, Sam nodded his head firmly, his face a scowl. Tony threw his hands in the arm in disgust before turning to the only member of the Avengers who hadn't said a word. Banner still sat in the chair that almost dwarfed him and gave the impression of a man who didn't leave impressions.

Nodding slightly to himself, Banner also stood and nodded towards Bucky. "I have to agree Tony. We've seen what the Winter Soldier can do. Do we really want another assassin of that caliber under HYDRAs command?"

"She's better than me," Bucky replied almost on instinct. He caught himself by surprise by how truthful it felt to admit those words. Smiling almost unnoticeably, "She bested me at everything. I don't remember details but I remember knowing without a doubt that she could kill me."

Making a half strangled sound, Tony whipped towards Bucky and stuck a finger in his face. "One thing goes wrong and we pull out. You understand? You may have gotten the team on board but that doesn't mean I won't kill you myself shaggy? Got it?" Without waiting for a reply, Tony stalked through the door Natasha had left from earlier and disappeared from sight. His anger left a cloud of silence in the room, broken by Dr. Banner smiling slightly towards the last three in the room and walking sedately after Tony Stark as if he had no care in the world.

Steve removed his hand from Bucky's shoulder and noticed how the laters shoulder untensed almost instantly. He hid his sadness before the soldier could see it however. Turning towards Sam and nodding seriously Steve issued the order that had Bucky's heart leaping in his chest, "Let's find her."

REVIEW!


	2. Winters Name

Hours turned into days and days turned into weeks. Seconds ticked by as if the universe had slowed down to coincide with his heartbeat. The steady rhythm lulled his senses into a void.

Time seemed to blur together. He couldn't remember the last time he had more than a few hours of sleep at one time. Or when the last time he ate was. He couldn't remember how long he had been sitting in this one spot, or when the last time he had moved his fingers was. A twitch of his finger on his living hand produced an unnoticeable sigh. Well at least he could do something. His mind began drifting again. It drifted far from his body, trying to dredge up that one fragment of memory that would be the key to finding her.

A sharp knock on his bedroom door snapped his attention back to the present. But Bucky had no energy to get up from his seated position on the floor, across from the door. He had no energy to respond to the knock or even level his head to watch as Steve approached through the now open door. He had no energy to do much more than blink and even that seemed to take eons.

"Buck?" Steve's voice was laced with worry and slight anger. "You can't keep on like this…You've been in the same spot for 18 hours!" When he received no response the Captain grunted and crouched to be even with the man sitting on the floor. Staring into dirty locks of black hair, Steve sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. This worrying was giving him a migraine. He extended his hand slowly, to hopefully not startle to dangerous half crazed man on the floor, and went to grip the former assassins head by his chin to bring their eyes level. He didn't let his surprise show when the soldier let him. That allowance proved just how exhausted the man in front of him must be.

When their heads were level with each other and Bucky slowly rotated his eyes up to meet Steve's, they locked into a firm gaze. "Listen to me," Steve said slowly, his hand still supporting the entire weight of Bucky's head, "We're worried about you Buck. I'm worried about you. You need sleep. You need to eat…" Steve paused, hoping for an answer from the blank eyes that looked right through him.

His eyes scanning Bucky's face rapidly, his anxiety growing with each second, Steve resisted the urge to slap his childhood best friend. He was slowly killing himself and Steve couldn't help but find it extremely selfish. Bucky was the one who had started them on this wild goose chase and now he wasn't going to stick around to see if they accomplish it or not.

Just when Steve was about to give in to the urge to physically assault the other man, a voice spoke from the doorway.

"Serafina is somewhere in Russia. I haven't found exactly where yet but judging by how you look, even if we do find her, you'll probably never know." The woman's voice sent shivers down Steve's spine and he turned only his head to look back at Natasha, who was leaning on the door frame with her arms crossed and a signature smirk firmly in place. Turning back to Bucky, whose chin was still in his hand but not for long, a flood of relief rushed through his body as the once lifeless eyes had regained their alertness and the once limp body had moved slightly to ease it's chin out of Steve's calloused hand.

For all that Bucky's mind had returned to his body, he still looked ready to drop at any moment. The dark circles lining his eyes almost reminded Steve of the former Winter Soldier make up. Bucky's eyes roamed over Steve before coming to rest on the Black Widow. A question was held in that gaze.

"No. The encryption on any files I find relating to her are extremely advanced. It's taken quite a bit of time to even find her personal file, much less her exact location but I've narrowed it down to western Russia. I'm working on it." Natasha grimaced slightly, not used to being thwarted this many times. The ex-spy turned Avenger pushed herself off the wall and smirked at Barnes before walking back down the hallway to where Sam was making pancakes and some strange smelling meat.

A barely audible sign escaped the former assassin as he let his eyes close and head lean back on the wall for barely a second before forcing his protesting muscles to stand his body up. If he had allowed his head to lean back any longer he might have fallen asleep and only God knows when he would have woken up again.

Steve jumped to help him, gripping one of Bucky's well-muscled arms and dragging the assassin to his feet, where he stood albeit wobbly. Taking the time to shake out any lasting aches in his muscles and joints, and waiting for the pinpricks to disappear, Bucky ran his metal hand through his hair and allowed the cold metal to relieve a small amount of pain from his pounding headache. He took a quick scan of his body. All joints and major muscles were functional, sore but functional. From experience he knew the soreness wouldn't last long anyhow. Raising his arms above his head, Bucky twisted in a sharp motion and several cracks were heard where his spin had popped to relieve pressure. Standing fully erect now, Bucky's head came to just shy of Steve's but his shoulders reached farther and were deeper than the living legend's.

"Come on Buck. Sam's making breakfast," Steve's voice was soft, barely above a whisper and with a jerk of his head indicating the hallway he moved away. Steve missed the small annoyed frown that flashed across Bucky's face at the mention on Sam. What if the wannabe bird tried to poison his food? Deep down Bucky knew that Sam would never do such a thing. The ex-para rescue man didn't have a malicious bone in his body but then again giving someone chronic diarrhea isn't considered deadly.

* * *

Seated around the Avengers table in the Stark turned Avengers Tower and watching the argument going on around him Bucky inwardly sighed. It seemed to him that all they did was bicker back and forth. If it were up to him, he'd make an operation order, plan, and execute his mission. He had been doing that for almost seventy years. However that's apparently not how they did things in civilized society according to Tony. So instead of making a viable plan, they had been stuck at this table quarreling over small details for the last two hours like chickens fighting for the last bit of feed. And when he said they, Bucky meant Tony and Steve with Natasha and Sam chiming in every few minutes. That left Bucky and as the two silent figures in the back, no surprise there.

"You want us to just storm up to the front door and say what? Hey guys, we're here to steal one of your most precious tools. She's about yeh big, known by Codename Eris, has a sunny disposition. Have you seen her?" Tony's sarcastic tone caused the hair on the back of Bucky's neck to rise even as a hidden smirk leapt to his face. Tony had gotten one thing right about her.

When Agent Romanov had finally uncovered one of the only HYDRA bases still in operation in Western Russia, they knew it had to be where they kept her. To him her name was Serafina, to HYDRA she was Project Inferno: Codename Eris. He had been Project Inferno: Codename Winter Soldier. The thought of calling her Eris gave him a nasty taste in his mouth. When they had first been forced into the program together and knew nothing besides the names HYDRA had given them, he had called her Eris. Eris for the Roman Goddess of Chaos. And she had called him Winter. But as the training increased and it came down to the two of them the name Eris just didn't seem to fit. She was so much more than her ability to cause carnage.

So they had agreed to give each other new names, ones they would only use in private away from the suspicious ears of the scientists who tested them.

 _An easy laugh broke through her smile as she playfully nudged his shoulder with her own. The Winter Solider had just completed another round of physical testing against opponents with high powered taser rods and he was covered in electric burns that lit his nerve endings on fire. While he was exhausted and injured, the sight of his friend and her infectious personality never failed to lift his mood. As always, at the end of a long day, they met in the hallway on the way to their cells escorted by armed guns for hire. HYDRA couldn't take the risk of their precious experiments escaping._

" _Eris." He tried hard to mask his humor but as always failed._

" _Come on Winter! You know it's funny. Every day you come out covered in wounds and me…not a scratch."_

 _Looking down at her shorter frame, Winter shook his head. It was true. He was never fast enough to avoid being injured in some form when HYDRA grunts attacked him from all sides. His body was littered with burn scars, bruises, cuts, and stab wounds. He even had a bullet hole scar through his abdomen that had taken longer than normal, even with advanced healing, to completely scar over._

 _But she was untouched. Her slightly tanned skin glowed in the florescent lights and her lightly curled blonde hair bounced in its ponytail as she walked. Shaking his head slightly he snorted. Everything about her was a contradiction._

 _She hadn't stepped outside for as long as he had and while he didn't know exactly how long it was he knew it wasn't a short period of time and yet her skin looked as if the sun had kissed it just yesterday. Her honey white hair was long and looked clean even though he knew she didn't get a shower more than once a week, a short and cold shower at that. Her ponytail bounced behind her because of the spring in her step but he knew that she could glide as smooth as a calm sea through a group of people and no one would notice her unless she wanted them too. Her eyes sparkled with hidden mirth and a smile almost never left her face but she was being trained to be one of the most deadly assassins known to man, to kill without hesitation._

 _He hopped beyond hope that the next phase of their training didn't strip her of that personality he loved and that kept him going. He didn't know what lay in store for them but he knew it wasn't good. He had heard the scientist talking. But she was happy and he didn't want to take that from her, not yet. His thoughts sprang back to her when she spoke again,_

" _I think we should give each other names. Names that only we can use. Winter just doesn't fit you and it's not like either of us remember our old ones," Eris' voice was for once serious and she gazed up at him with a determined set of her jaw._

 _Grinning almost unnoticeably, Winter kept silent for a few moments. They had continued walking and were getting close to their side by side cells. "What did you have in mind?" His voice was starting to become scratchy and he had to admit he somewhat liked it. He usually just let Eris talk. Looking down through the corner of his eye he saw Eris' smile stretch wider. They stopped in front of the two cells, side by side, that had thick metal doors and no windows inside. Their only saving grace was the ability to speak through the walls at night._

" _Lemme get back to ya big guy, I've got options!" with that Eris' bounced into her room, the door being held open by a guard with another positioned behind her, his stun gun on high. It was always this way. One extra move and the would be assassins get dropped to the floor with 10 million volts of electricity surging through their twitching bodies._

 _Shaking his head again, Winter allowed the guards to lead him into his own cell to see his concrete cot with a thin layered blanket on top and his toilet and sink in the far corner. These cells were small but he had grown accustomed to the ten by ten foot room. It was almost a sanctuary to him now. Moving quickly to the wall that lay as a barrier between his cell and Eris' he spoke, "How long are you going to keep me waiting doll?"_

 _He choked back an unmanly giggle at the thought of her face when he called her doll. She hated it. The first time he had ever called her doll had been the first time he had ever gotten his ass kicked by a girl. A five foot four girl at that. She wasn't even average height for a female for god's sakes. That had also been the first time he had realized that she was a lot better than him. At pretty much everything._

" _I'm going to let that slide because I don't want to ruin this moment by having to tear through this wall to kill you for it," Her voice floated through the wall and this time he did indulge in a chuckle. "I have two names," she continued, "You have to pick."_

 _He nodded then realized she couldn't see him. "Okay."_

" _Okay, the first is Wesley and I'll shorten it to Wes. And the second is James. I don't think I'll shorten that one." He contemplated for a minute. Wesley or Wes didn't fit him. Did James? Shrugging the Winter Soldier pressed his hand against the wall separating them and answered, "I like James."_

 _He could hear the smile in her voice when she replied, "I was hoping you would pick that one! It fits you. Okay okay, now me!" Her enthusiasm was contagious._

 _He smiled and dragged out the minutes, letting her anticipation grow. "JAMES!" He heard her shout just before a knock was heard through the wall. She had slammed her fist against it. His grin turned Cheshire and he laughed. "You're doing this on purpose, I swear next time we spar I going to make you pay for it!" Even though she was trying to hide it, James knew she was smiling. He was liking the name James more and more as he came to associate it with himself._

" _I choose Serafina." He finally replied and silence was heard on the other end._

Blinking away the memory he had just relived, Bucky noticed that all eyes around the table were focused on him. He raised an eyebrow in question.

Natasha took pity on him as it seemed that Tony, the one who had asked the question, was about to blow up on him if the scowl that heavily marred his features was anything to go by. Tony had an understandable reason to hate the Winter Soldier and Bucky couldn't deny him his rightful hate.

"We were discussing possible ways into this base. Do you have any knowledge of it?" She asked, her voice flat.

Shaking his shaggy head Bucky responded, "I don't remember specific bases, I was never awake long enough to map one out," he frowned, "but all HYDRA bases have a fail-safe. An underground network that usually leads to a building top side somewhere a few miles away. It's only know by a handful of important agents."

Tony's face became contemplating. "I can have JARVIS hack into an infrared satellite, we can get the tunnel that way. But I'm assuming HYDRA will have a way to prevent or reroute something like that so I'll have to blast through any firewalls they have." This mumbling to himself continued for a few minutes before he nodded to himself and stood up. "I'll be in the lab, when I'm ready I'll let you know." He sauntered out of the meeting deep in thought.

When Tony left Bruce turned to Bucky and asked, "Are you ready for the pre-op health screening?" Bucky slowly nodded his head. He was used to pre-op tests but it didn't stop him from dreading them. Needles had always ranked as one of his fears, even when he was just James Buchanan Barnes. Now they were a deep ingrained phobia. HYDRA ran similar tests every time they woke him, usually a bunch of blood work, hence the needle phobia, and scans. Since this was the longest time he had been awake in seven decades he had asked the doctor to look him over. Sighing slightly Bucky stood and made his way to lab accompanied by the doctor and Steve, who trailed behind.

If getting this test done was another step in the process to find and rescue Serafina, he would allow the doctor to stick him with as many needles as he had to. He was going on this mission, and no one would stop him.


	3. Winters Success

Once again seated around the large Avengers table but this time with a viable plan in place Bucky could feel his nerves settling. He always felt the stomach butterflies before an op but as his Winter Soldier personality took hold he lost all sense of his body. The only fear he had, that sat in the back of his mind, was falling too deep into the killer mindset. He didn't want to hurt anyone if necessary but that didn't include HYDRA agents. Any HYDRA men he killed he counted as a victory.

"Barnes, once we are inside we won't have much time before we need to get out. Probably less than 7 or 8 minutes," Natasha spoke, her calm voice making her description sound as if they were going to a bake shop not a hidden, dangerous underground testing facility. "We will split up once inside, Barnes and Cap will find the target, Stark and Falcon will keep our exit way clear, and I will find and save as much HYDRA information as possible. When we pull out, this base needs to be taken out, Tony that will be your cue. Once all team members are out, boom." Natasha said the last part with a devilish smirk on her face. Steve and Sam shared a look and shivered. She wasn't called the Black Widow for nothing. She enjoyed causing pain.

Bucky knew he needed to warn them about what he suspected was waiting for them in Russia. "Serafina might not be in control when we get there. If they suspect we are coming, she will be under memory wipe. Just like I was programmed to be the Winter Soldier, she will be programmed to be Eris. If she is programmed, let me handle it."

Bucky didn't want one of the Avengers getting injured by Eris or killed. He knew Stark hated him and likely held a grudge against Serafina for the trouble of rescuing her already but if she killed or maimed one of his team members, Iron Man's wrath would be hard to get around. Serafina might need his connections in the days to come if they got her out alive. He tried not to think about the alternative.

Steve frowned from across the table, "Buck, we can handle ourselves. You can't do this alone."

Shaking his shaggy head Bucky replied, "If anyone gets a hurt, it will be me. I left her there," he grimaced, his self-loathing plain to everyone at the table, "you pulled me out of it Steve. Maybe I can do the same for her."

Still clearly worried but not wanting to offend his still recovering best friend, Steve nodded before turning the conversation to other details of the plan. Next to Steve Sam was glaring at Bucky as if causing the Captain to worry personally offended his sidekick. Bucky stare blankly back. The two kept locked eyes for almost a minute before Sam turned his head with a scoff and joined the conversation Steve was having with Natasha about the number of possible enemies they would encounter. Bucky let the voices around the table fade out and focused on his plan to defeat the woman he had only defeated once in their entire testing and operational phases. The butterflies were back.

Bucky had been planning and re planning for this moment for weeks now. The entire team was assembled in the quinjet with a new face at the helm. Clint Barton aka Hawkeye had returned for this mission only. He had made that very clear. And only because Natasha had asked it of him. His only mission was to keep the quinjet ready for their escape once the asset had been recovered.

'The Asset'. Referring to a woman he knew so much and yet so little about made Bucky snarl to himself as the 'asset' made him feel somewhat dirty, as if he was betraying her somehow. He was already extremely overprotective of just the thought of her. He almost wasn't looking forward to actually having her alive and in danger around him. But those feelings of uncertainty were over ridden by the intense desire to see her. He hadn't realized how strong his attachment to her was until recently. Probably because he could never remember more than bits and pieces of his life before being free of HYDRA.

All members of the team were suited up. Captain America in his infamous red white and blue with his shield strapped to his back. Iron Man, covered in metal from head to toe, his suit shinning as the rays of light from the sun coming thought the pilots window stuck his red and yellow attire. Natasha and Clint, both ex-spies, dressed in all black and strapped with uncountable weapons. And finally Falcon, Bucky's least favorite member of the team. Falcon was strapped to his normal, though upgraded, wings with his googles ready around his neck. Then there was himself.

Bucky looked down at his arm with its red star and his usual uniform and for once wasn't disgusted by what he saw. His metal arm shined much like Tony Starks armor and looked intimidating in the light. His all black battle tested uniform had had little adjustments made to it since he had escaped HYDRA but the snugness and sense of protection it gave him remained exactly the same. He was ready for this fight.

A voice near his shoulder made him snap his head up from where his eyes had been glued to his uniform and the floor, lost in thought. He seemed to get lost in his own head often now.

"You ready?" Steve asked and placed a comforting hand on Bucky's shoulder. The former assassin turned part time Avenger tried not to flinch. Bucky nodded in response.

Steve continued, "You know there is a possibility of HYDRA trying to recapture you right? Or the possibility of us not finding Serafina alive?" Those words sent a jolt of electricity through Bucky's body. Both of those possibilities scared him more than he wanted to admit.

Bucky also knew that Steve was just trying to protect him, in his own way, but his goody two shoes demeanor and soft voice just succeeded in getting on Bucky's already frayed nerves. Bucky had noticed that he got angry a lot easier nowadays. He couldn't help the feelings but he tried his best to reign them in. So with a stiff nod, Bucky moved away from the legendary soldier and sat towards the back of the plane, well away from the rest of the team. He didn't trust himself to speak or even look at any of them.

He was almost disgusted by them. They treated Serafina like an object or a goal. Something to obtain and whether they succeeded or not was not going to affect their daily lives much. But whether or not they accomplished this mission was going to either revolutionize Bucky's life or completely destroy it.

Bucky sighed. He knew he had put too much of himself into this. He was basing a majority of his limited emotions on this mission going right and getting to see Serafina again. But what if?...

No. He wasn't going to let himself think about that possibility too much. This was a succeed or die mission which meant the mission was either going to succeed or he would die in that base, far underground with no more will to go on. His inner self glowed with how secure he was in that decision. His conscious and subconscious minds were at peace. He allowed himself to finally look up and lock eyes with Steve who was still staring at him. Bucky gave a half-hearted smile towards his childhood friend which Steve returned with a full watt smile. It was almost time to decide his fate.

* * *

As soon as the almost silent quinjet landed Bucky knew something was wrong. He had made sure to be the first one off the plane, just in case. He couldn't explain the sense of wrongness other than the air, when they stepped off the plane, felt tense and static like the sky just before a storm. He had learned to trust his instincts long ago and he wasn't about to dismiss them now.

Standing silently in the snow covered ground Bucky scanned the wooded area they had landed in to give them cover. Nothing moved in the woods, almost like the animals knew also that something wasn't right. Just as his eyes passed a point to the left of the quinjets nose an incoming whistling sound made him instinctually duck and shout, "Get down!" Everyone complied except for Iron Man.

A large ding sounded not a second later and Bucky saw Iron Mans suit slide a few feet backwards before looking towards where he had seen the flash of a barrel. It was her and she had just hit one of the Avengers with at least a .50 caliber to dent heavy metal like that. If she had hit living flesh, little would be left of the mangled human.

He could feel that it was her like he felt his own blood pump through his veins. But why would she go for Iron Man? She would have been given all the stats on the Avengers and must have known that almost nothing will penetrate Tony Stark's homemade weapons suit. It gave Bucky hope. She was Eris right now and she was deadly which meant that she could have easily killed one of the less protected Avengers just as easily. Serafina must be somewhere in there somewhere, fighting.

"Move!" The order was barked from the body to Bucky's left and without a thought he took off towards the area that the shot had come from. He could hear Steve shouting his name somewhere behind him and in the back of his mind he remembered that Steve was supposed to help him find Serafina and watch his back. But there was no turning back or slowing down now. He had to get to her.

A few yards behind the metal armed assassin, Steve was racing to catch up with the figure in front. He should have known Bucky was going to take off at the first sign of their target. The base was less than a mile away, if the female assassin got to the base before they could catch her it would make extraction a lot more difficult.

Pushing his legs harder, Steve pulled within a few steps behind Bucky and shouted, "Buck, we need to stop and form a plan!" He questioned whether the other man heard him over the howling wind but shouldn't have worried. Bucky has advanced senses and even if Steve had whispered that sentence he would have heard it clearly.

Clenching his fists, Bucky turned his head and glared at Steve. He still didn't get it. He was taking Eris lightly because she was a woman and in Steve's old fashioned eyes women would always be weaker than men. But Bucky knew different. If not caught, Eris would wreck this team and all their well made plans. The sooner the better was wise in this case.

The Captain seemed to get the message for as Bucky started to speed up, Steve kept pace instead of slowing down. Bucky was grateful for the first time in a while towards the other man. At least Steve was loyal if misguided sometimes.

Reaching the top of a small hill the two men raced over it and almost immediately lost their footing. The other side was quite a bit steeper than the side they had come up. The two large bodies tumbled, head over heels, for almost one hundred yards slamming to a stop on two ancient pine trees. The air in both their lungs were forcefully ejected and left the two men gasping and choking, trying to breathe. Looking up at each other from their positions on all fours, the two men, as one, looked towards the direction they were running in and froze.

Standing, not thirty feet from the two gasping men, was a figure wrapped in all black. In a suit similar to the Winter Soldier's except with two black sleeves instead of a metal arm, the figure was clearly female and had a large barreled weapon trained on them. 'Serafina' Bucky's mind whispered. He didn't realize that he had said the words out loud until Steve looked over at him, eyes wide, before turning back to HYDRAs living weapon.

Taking the chance, Bucky raised his hands in front of him, palms facing the woman, and stood slowly. Steve mirrored his actions. Once they were both standing, noticing not a muscle twitched in the half masked face of the woman before them, the three of them studied each other for a long minute.

Seeing her for the first time Steve's reactions were drastically different from Bucky's thoughts. To Steve, the woman in front of them was of average height, slim and lean with a body that most models would kill for. Steve grimaced thinking she probably had killed people for that body. Her face was half masked by a similar containment device that Bucky had first worn when they fought in Washington but he could tell by the general shape of her face and jawline that she was stunning.

Her blond hair was pulled sharply away from her face and held in a high ponytail, a few wisps escaping to frame her face. Her face itself was symmetric with two almond shaped eyes that sat under very sculptured eyebrows. But what startled Steve the most wasn't her beauty but her eyes themselves.

Her left eye was a light ice blue, and her right eye was warm amber brown. The shocking contrast made Steve wonder if they were natural or an experiment gone right.

While Steve was examining her, so was Bucky. He hadn't seen her in god knows how long but for the most part she still looked the same. Some things were different however. Her young appearance had morphed into a slightly more angular adult face, and her lovely whitish blonde hair was not longer in her loose braid behind her head but up in a sharp ponytail. He couldn't help the small smile that came to his face upon seeing her. But it dropped instantly when he saw her slight frown. She didn't remember him. Yet, he promised himself.

After the long minute of examining each other was over, Eris having never dropped her aggressive stance and raised weapon, Bucky took a step forward.

"остановить!" Her voice was cold as the winter wind that blew through the trees. Bucky froze. She was speaking Russian. The HYDRA scientists had trained her in Russian much like they had done for him. That was a connection he could use.

"Serafina, Вы помните меня?" Bucky's rough voice cut through the air and sent a visible chill through the female's body before him. Her frown got more pronounced. Pointing to his chest he said, "James."

"меня зовут Eris." Her voice was once again cold as ice. Her hand released one side of her weapon slowly and came up to grip the side of her head. Another connection between them. Remember always caused him extreme headaches. She was probably in the beginning stages of one. That meant that this was working. If he could just get her to question her memories enough to lower the weapon.

"правосудие, Мораль, действия, вечнозеленый, поток.." A loud male voice echoed over through the woods bouncing oddly off the trees and small hills. All three bodies jumped slightly.

It seemed that the HYDRA agents had placed loud speakers somewhere close by. Bucky's eyes widened at the words he was hearing. They were randomly assigned words that meant nothing unless strung together in a sequence. A sequence that had been brained washing into the woman in front of him. Looking towards Serafina he noticed that her arm had fallen from her head and come to cradle her weapon again. A weapon she was looking in the sight of. A weapon whose barrel was pointed directly at Steve.

Cursing in his head Bucky took the only chance he was going to get and ran straight for the other assassin. He was fast but not fast enough to cover the distance between them before she swung her weapon and fired at him. Thankfully she hadn't had time to properly aim and the bullet sliced an inch deep through the skin on his outer flesh arm. He quickly pushed the pain away almost as second nature.

Then he was upon her. She had flung her weapon away subconsciously knowing that this would be close quarter combat and a large bulky weapon would be of no use to her. As Bucky swung his metal arm overhead, his flesh arm hanging useless at his side, he knew he had already lost this fight. He had a slim chance of victory with both arms, with one the best he could hope for was to hold her off long enough for Steve to snap out of his shock and come to his aide.

His first swing was blocked, as was his second before he felt an iron force crunch one of his ribs and he rolled with the momentum of the kick that had gotten through on his bad side. Standing back up swiftly he was bombarded with left and right hooks, an assortment of flying kicks, and a knife that slide through his one armed defense and embedded itself in his shoulder.

Landing a solid kick to the other assassin abdomen gave Bucky a few seconds of break where he looked wildly around for Steve. Catching a glimpse of red and blue creeping up behind the female assassin Bucky took another wild swing at her hoping to distract her enough that she wouldn't notice what was happening behind her.

"This is not you," Bucky gasped as another brass knuckled punch forced partial air out of his lungs. He stood straight again to block a roundhouse kick that had been aimed at his face. "Your name is not Eris. Your name is Serafina. We trained together."

A brief pause in her swings allowed Steve the chance he had been waiting for. With all the strength he had, the Captain flung his heavy metal shield at the back of the female assassin neck, where it met her shoulders. A crack of breaking bones and a pained cry ended the fight as soon as it began.

Steve hurried to Bucky's side as the later gasped from the pain of fractured possibly broken ribs, a stab wound, and a useless arm that was dripping blood into the pristine snow.

"You weren't kidding. Any longer and I think she would have killed you," Steve said, throwing Bucky's metal arm over his broad shoulder and wrapping his other arm around Bucky's waist, trying not to press on his bad rips.

Two approaching figures, Sam and Natasha quickly joined the two. Looking at the fallen body in the snow Natasha commented, "Well that's unexpected." Her eyes shown with devilish mirth. "We all thought you were dead for sure Barnes."

Rolling his eyes at the spy Bucky allowed Steve to help him turn and start limping back to the quinjet. Steve addressed Natasha and the Falcon over his shoulder, "Pick her up, gently please and bring her along. Mission success."

Sam nodded and instantly went to the side of the prone woman before rolling her over. Some of her hair had fallen out of her ponytail and shrouded a good portion of her face. "She's not half as scary when she's unconscious," he commented before sticking a needle in her neck and pushing the fluid that was in the vial into her bloodstream. Natasha had provided a powerful sedative to keep the dangerous assassin quiet for the ride back to the Avengers tower.

After throwing the needle away, Sam hoisted the body up onto one shoulder and shared a smirk with Natasha before they followed in the footsteps on the two ninety year old men back to the quinjet. As all four of them reached the top of the last hill before the clearing opened up, a large explosion was heard and the ground shook beneath their feet. A mushroom cloud of dark dirt and dirty snow feel like raindrops on their heads.

Sam chuckled, bouncing the body of their target on his shoulder, "Tony can never do anything small can he?" It wasn't really a question. When Natasha had assigned Tony the job of blowing up the HYDRA base after they had all been cleared, she knew the dramatic flair it would have. Shaking his head up ahead Steve looked over at his injured friend and smiled when he saw the half lidded smile on Bucky's face.

The mission was a success, there were no causualities, and Bucky now had the chance to right his mistake of leaving Serafina behind. He might never forgive himself for it, but he could always try to make it up to her. He would make it up to her.

* * *

Russian conversation: "Stop!" "Do you remember me?" "My name is.."

Russian trigger words:

Justice morality action evergreen thread


End file.
